External drive not showing in Time Machine back ups

ok, I have several problems, the first one being the fact that my external drive, where I have all my data, is not mounting or sometimes it mounts but soon dissapears. I was not worried at the beginning since I thought, that is why I have time machine, I have all my files backed up. However, the external drive does not show in any of my back ups. It dissapears from Time Machine too so all my previous back ups from the external drive dissapeared too. I have all those backups before. Any ideas of what is wrong? I have 10.5.8

dakine2403 wrote:
Thanks a lot. I am sure I am doing somethign wrong but since the external hard drive can not be seen any more, I don't see it either in any one of my back ups. It does not show anywhere.
Also, my external drive gets detected sometimes, I run Repair Disk, it says it is fine, then it works for a while and then it stops working. I need to turn it off, then turn it back on and again it works for a while. I have run disk utility everyt time when the hard drive works and still says it is ok, then it stops working again after a while. Any ideas with either one of these problem ( or both)?
Try other ports and cables. If it has a separate power supply, try plugging-it in to a different outlet. Make sure all the connections are secure. Can you try it on another computer?
Your disk may be failing, or need a firmware update. Check with the maker's website, support and/or forums.

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Correction: Title should be Firewire External drive not showing in Finder, or on Desktop.

External drive not showing in Time Machine back ups

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